A Long Way Down
by odd-gelato
Summary: Jasper doesn't survive his fall into the canyon. Neither does Davey.


_i see your "what if jasper lives" au and raise you a "what if they both fuckin die" au. this is kinda rushed bc i just wanted to get it out, but i may have more ideas if anyone is interested. warning for blood and a couple descriptions of dead bodies (but nothing too graphic)._

* * *

Davey watches in horror as Jasper vanishes into the darkness, and his outstretched hand goes slack.

"He's dead," Davey says numbly. "He's dead, and we witnessed it."

He doesn't hear the soft _shk_ of a knife being unsheathed. "We didn't witness anything," Cameron says, "and we'll testify to that."

Davey begins to turn, to ask him what he means, but there's a flash of silver and his breath leaves him as pain blooms in his chest. He gasps, chokes, tastes blood in his mouth. A boot collides with his ribs, and he thinks he feels something crunch. Then there's nothing beneath him, and he's floating – or maybe falling. The blue sky spirals away, swallowed by the mouth of the canyon.

He hits the ground much harder than any child's body can withstand.

* * *

Davey sits up, rubbing his eyes. When he opens them, he sees Jasper sitting cross-legged a few feet away. Relief floods through him. "You're okay!"

Jasper glances down, his hand going to the back of his neck. "Uh… Not exactly." He gestures to a strange shape in the grass to Davey's left.

"Huh?" Davey stands, walking over to examine it more closely. It's a boy, his neck and limbs twisting in ways they shouldn't. A familiar boy, with sandy brown hair and a purple shirt under his uniform yellow one. One of his light-up shoes had fallen off, and is lying a little ways away. "But…" He looks from the body to Jasper and back again. "But if you're… How are you still… And how did I survive?"

"Davey," Jasper says softly.

Suddenly, Davey realizes that he isn't in any pain, which doesn't make sense at all. He remembers something hurting a lot, so why doesn't he feel it anymore? And he'd just fallen off a cliff – he should have at least a few scratches and bruises, if not broken bones. Chilled with dread, he slowly turns to face where he'd been sitting just moments ago.

There's another figure on the ground. Davey approaches it, knowing what he's going to see, but hoping he's wrong.

His body is messier than Jasper's, his shirt more red than yellow, and a trickle of blood leaks from the corner of mouth. He collapses to his knees, reaching out to touch the knife wound in his chest and pulling back at the last second. "Did… Did Mr. Campbell do this to me?"

"Kinda looks like it," Jasper replies.

Davey wants to throw up, but he doesn't actually have a stomach anymore, so he just doubles over while what passes for his gut roils. A hand rests on his shoulder, and he flinches in surprise. "Let's go over there," Jasper says, pointing to a corner of the gulch that's away from both bodies.

When Davey nods but doesn't move, Jasper gently helps him to his feet and leads him to the spot. They settle down, Davey staying pressed to Jasper's side, drawing comfort from the contact. To make it easier, Jasper puts an arm around him, and Davey curls up into a ball.

"Do you think anyone will find us?" Davey asks in a small voice.

Jasper turns his face upwards. The small strip of sky he can see is dark and speckled with stars. "I dunno," he says, feeling strangely calm.

Davey goes quiet, and they sit in silence for a while. Then he says, "Everyone's gonna miss you."

The corners of Jasper's mouth tug down. "They'll… miss you, too." Even as he says it, the words ring hollow. No one at Camp Campbell is a fan of Davey's. They'll regret his death, but they won't mourn his absence.

Davey knows it, too. "No, they won't," he replies. His forehead his against his knees, and his voice is a little muffled. "No one's gonna miss me."

"Your parents?" Jasper tries, but Davey's derisive snort is all the answer he needs.

Jasper holds Davey a little tighter, and they wait for the sun to rise.

* * *

With morning comes the sound of helicopters in the distance. The two of them watch the opening far above them with hope, but no one ever shows up. Hours pass, and hours more, until the sun sets again. When it's completely dark once more, Davey speaks. "They're not gonna find us. Mr. Campbell didn't tell anyone where we are." He starts to shake. "Mr. Campbell… He… He k- _killed_ me. And l-left you to d-die." The dam in him finally breaks, and he begins to cry.

Jasper's throat tightens, and tears begin leaking from his eyes as well. At last, the reality of their situation has sunk in, and he pulls Davey into a hug. Davey stiffens, and then he clutches onto Jasper as sobs wrack both their bodies.

Eventually, they both subside, but continue to cling to each other, if only to feel less alone.

* * *

Cameron C. Campbell has been lying all his life, about all kinds of things. So when he returns to camp with mud on his clothes, twigs in his hair, and crocodile tears welling up in his eyes, he knows he'll get away with it. Making sure his voice wavers and cracks in all the right places, he weaves a story for the authorities ( _the ground gave way and I couldn't- I couldn't grab them in time, they were too far away_ ) and tells them about a different canyon, one that he knows has a strong river running along the bottom ( _their bodies could have ended up anywhere, my god, those poor boys_ ). He ends it by burying his face in his hands and shaking his shoulders with fake sobs. For a moment, he worries that maybe he overdid it, but a quick peek through his fingers confirms that everyone there has only sympathy for him.

Of course there's a search, but everyone is looking in the wrong part of the mountains and operating under the assumption that the bodies had been swept away in the current.

As a result, Jasper and Davey are never found, and Cameron C. Campbell, who has been lying all his life, gets away with it.


End file.
